FCC's O'Rielly: Let's Annually Clear Out Dormant Proceedings

July 9, 2014 at 4:41 AM (PT)

In a blog post, FCC Commissioner MICHAEL O'RIELLY has voiced support for Chairman TOM WHEELER's recent push to clear the decks of dormant proceedings. O'RIELLY wrote, "in general I believe that closing outdated FCC proceedings makes a lot of sense. Doing so could help the agency become more organized and focused on decisions that need to be made. It could also make it easier for both Congress and the public to track what the agency is working on or still considering. And it could help prevent the Commission from using antiquated information as a basis for regulating.

"In fact, clearing the regulatory decks is something we should probably do more often -- maybe even annually. The Commission may also want to consider creating an automatic closure process. Perhaps after a year, and with appropriate notice, we could close proceedings that have been concluded and for which no further pleadings are filed. This could significantly reduce the number of unnecessary open proceedings, while still allowing public access to the documents that were generated.

"Overall, this is a step in the right direction for the FCC. So again, I cheer this good government action, and I look forward to reading the record that develops from this Public Notice. I hope that we can quickly evaluate the 650 proceedings that have been teed up and then turn to review the 2,200 or so that remain."